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The study also showed that mothers were more likely to take their children outside than fathers. It confirmed that the habits of parents impact significantly on children.

Furthermore, mothers who hit the gym more than four times per week were 50per cent more likely to take the kids outside than mothers who don’t exercise.

Pooja Tandon, the lead author for the study who is also a pediatrician and researcher at Seattle Children's Hospital, said children require more time outside to ensure lower obesity rates within the U.S.

'For young children, exercise and play is interrelated. Being outdoors is more conducive to both'

She said: 'For young children, exercise and play is interrelated. Being outdoors is more conducive to both.'

She added that child care centers are to blame in part.

'There are high-quality child care centers where kids go out regardless of weather,' she admitted. 'But in a lot of settings, they do more indoor recesses.'

The National Association for Sport and Physical Education has said that preschoolers, who are generally aged between two and four, require at least 60 minutes of physical activity per day.

But it seems healthy activity levels do not increase once a child reaches the next level of education.

Another study, published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine in December, showed that children are even less likely to play outside during their elementary school years.

Only six U.S. states - Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, Illinois and Iowa - are allowed to make their elementary school students participate in 150-minutes of physical education per week.

And just three U.S. states - Delaware, Virginia and Nebraska - have introduced 20 minutes of mandatory recess per day.

These studies come as childhood obesity continues to grow in the U.S.

17per cent of children aged between two to 19 were obese at the end of 2010, according to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

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How almost half of preschool children do not play outside each day - and girls are less likely to get fresh air than boys